that's a tough one

Oh gosh..music, ugh! Quite possibly one of the most debated subjects about web design, should you have it or should you not? Well, there are many factors that should influence your decision about music. There are a few you might not have heard of before, so read this carefully.

load time

This is pretty obvious. If your page is already huge in file size, then you cannot afford to add anything more to it! Especially some crazy 50 KB midi. I often come to sites that are about 65 KB in size, only to leave in despair when I find out the midi takes up 40 KB of it! If you choose to put music on your page, pick a midi that is relatively small in size. Not over 10 KB, which means they should be quite short (around 1 minute).

why is this here??

Often I go to a page and wonder to myself "Why on earth is this midi here??". Sure, if you have a page about a band or singer you should have a midi from that band or singer on the page! But, really, why on earth would you have the Macarena on a site about Warcraft II???? Think about the midi before putting the midi up, ask yourself whether it goes along with your page or not.

you didn't know this!

One of the least known facts about midis: They are illegal. Do you know how buying a CD with a program on it, then copying the program to other CDs and selling them for a cheaper price is illegal? Well, you are doing virtually the same thing with midi's! You are taking a copyright song, and converting it to digital information, which can be used on your website. Very few companies care about this however, so few people pay attention to it. Keep it in mind while making your page though, note how no major companies have midis on their site!

your opinion

Whether or not to have a midi on your site really just comes down to your opinion. If you think it will help the site, it probably will. Maybe try to poll your viewers about it, so you can find out what they want, which is the most important thing.